Bumbershoot - The Plays of Jeffrey James Ircink

Looking for a play? I've been afforded the opportunity to work with talented actors, directors and theater folk in Bel Air, Dayton, Cedar Rapids, Fort Lauderdale, Manhattan, Iowa City, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Sydney and Belfast. Hey - some playwrights have accomplished more, some less...but it's a start. Bumbershoot - The Plays of Jeffrey James Ircink features dialogue samples to all my full-lengths, shorts and a one-act, along with my resume, reviews and quotes for each play.

COMING SOON! PASS THE SALT, PLEASE (short film) - based on my short play of the same name. Here's a post on the first day's shooting. Stars Fionnula Flanagan and Seymour Cassel, with actors Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell as executive producers, directed by Tatjana Najdanovic, and award-winning graphic artist Doug Tomich (Babel, True Grit, No Country For Old Men, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Doubt) lending his hand to our movie posters. Click here if you wanna help fund the film (12 days left).

COMING SOON! CHROMOSOME 21 - BITE Theatre's Emerging Playwrights Reading Series, Milwaukee, WI - Spring/Summer 2011

COMING SOON! BILLY BALFOOR WANTS AN APOLOGY - short film based on my short of the same name

FINIS! World premiere of BILLY BALFOOR WANTS AN APOLOGY at Short+Sweet Sydney / The Biggest Little Play Festival in the World, Newtown Theatre, Sydney, Australia - Feb 16-20, 2011. Here's a post after the play wrapped, a post on the movie playbill and one on the actors rehearsing. The review was excellent.

FINIS! Staged play reading of the one-act, REVEILLE!, at Trimborn Farm, Greendale, WI - Sept 25, 2010. Stephen Davis, president of Summerstage Delafield, put this website together commemorating the event. Probably the best theater experience I've ever been a part of. Here's a few pics.

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"The Bed"...makes the Semi-finals for Short & Sweet/Sydney!!

"Good play."

- Alex Broun, Artistic Co-ordinator of Short & Sweet (includes Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne/Singapore/Malaysia), the largest ten minute play festival in the world, and one of the world's most produced ten minute playwrights.

Yeehah! My 10-minute play, "The Bed", has been officially shortlisted (semi-finalist, same thing) for Short & Sweet/Sydney, to be held in Australia in January/February 2009! This is the 2nd year in a row I've gotten to this stage - my award-winner, "Pass the Salt, Please." (that dirty little play) was a semi-finalist last December as well. Now if I can just get over that hump...

"The Bed" is a dramatic short about an elderly man who takes an introspective look at his life - from infancy through death. No dialogue. Just first-person narration (the elderly man) set to music (“Adagio in G Minor”) and performers on stage acting out the narration. From nearly 1,000 entries, 300 were "shortlisted". Each play was read by 2 to 3 adjudicators and considered under the following five criteria: Story, Character, Dialogue, Dramatic Tension and Theatricality. The shortlisted plays are then distributed to directors who put together a Top 5 list and a slate of shows is chosen from the 300 to encompass four weeks of theater in Sydney in January/February 2009. Like last year, I'm very happy to be a semi-finalist. And yet, like last year, I feel "The Bed" has the moxie to get into the finals. We'll see. By the way, only 39 US writers made that shortlist of 300.

You can check out the Short & Sweet shortlist press release here - from there you can tool around the site at your leisure. And if you'd like to read an excerpt from "The Bed", go to my play website, Plays of Jeffrey James Ircink. Or email me at irc_64@hotmail.com if you'd like to read the play in its entirety. And, of course, if the play makes the finals I will be looking for patron (sponsors, same thing) to help me get over there to see the production.

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"Listen to the Mourning Doves" Tonight at Pacific Resident Theatre / Venice Beach.

I'll be appearing tonight in a staged play reading of my friend, Jerry Small's play, "Listen to the Mourning Doves", at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice Beach. Starts at 7 p.m. and is free if you'd like to attend. The theater's at 703 Venice Blvd. - email me at irc_64@hotmail.com or show up at the door and tell whoever's there that you know me.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." in LA's ArtBash this December!

My 'dirty little' 10-minute play, "Pass the Salt, Please." will be featured at ArtBash in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 13. Sponsored by NeedTheater and The Hollywood Fringe Festival, ArtBash will bring together nearly 25 of LA's most innovative performance companies and their work for a night of festivities best described as "Roaring 20's decadence meets the excesses of 2008". The event will be held at the Architecture & Design Museum (A+D) on Museum Row (Wilshire Blvd.) in Los Angeles. Email me if you're in LA and would like more information.

"Pass the Salt, Please." won Best of Show honors at UNcover: a 2-night art exhibition with an erotic vibe, held in Cedar Rapids March 2007. It had its LA premiere in August 2007 at the grand re-opening of Drake's Erotica Emporium and it will be featured at The Little Red Studio's Erotic Short Play Festival this Spring in Seattle. It was also a semi-finalist last year in both Short & Sweet/Sydney, The World's Largest 10-Minute Play Festival and Asphalt Jungle Shorts IV in Ontario, Canada.

You can check both the NeedTheater and NeedTheater blog for updates on ArtBash, as well as the A+D Museum site.

Now...could you just Pass the Salt, Please? HA! Get it? No...you wouldn't unless you've read the play. Forget it.

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Looking for scary Halloween fodder to read the little kiddies tonite? Don't read "The Pillowman".

(Reprinted posts from 10/13/08)

I finished Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman". Without a doubt, one of the most warped, detestable, screwed up, sick plays I've read. LOVED IT. I wouldn't suggest it for children under the age of 12. And certainly not to a child who might be prone to killing small animals and such.

I'm currently working on a full-length play that may well be considered as equally detestable (I'm not comparing myself to McDonagh in any way). The subject matter, I mean. Some interesting the similarities in plot points.

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"Nuru i' Yondo". The title of my newest play.

"Nuru i' Yondo".

'Course that's in code so you'll have to figure it out yourself. I've been working on this full-length for some time and it's just nearing the end - first draft, mind you. I'm excited. I can tell you it's a dark comedy in three acts - with the 3rd act being a very, very dark drama.

And if I've spoken to you already about this play, please refrain from commenting about it on this blog (under COMMENT section) by using it's working title. I have two interested publishers and I don't won't no cats left out of no bags. If you love me, you'll do that for me.

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Double vision.

The cover shot of my play, "Stan's Addiction" (Heuer Publishing 2006) which I took next to the cover of playwright/screenwriter David Mamet's book, "A Life in the Theatre".

Mine was published first.

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For public consumption = My latest play. It's a hoot.

10 minutes. Official entry into Short & Sweet/Sydney and Brisbane Largest 10-Minute Play Festival in the World. "Jessica, Paris, Britney and Lindsay Meet Brett Favre on Their Train Wreck". Copyright 2008 Jeffrey James Ircink. Email me at irc_64@hotmail.com if you represent a theater and are interested in performing it. Performance rates to be determined. Like that's really gonna happen. I just put the picture up 'cause I like what I did with the cover. I don't think you're supposed to fluff up the covers of plays generally, but...I do.

It's funny. An excerpt may be found at http://www.playsofjeffreyjamesircink.blogspot.com/

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"The Bed" and "JPBandL Meet Brett Favre on Their Train Wreck" - two new short plays complete!

Over the course of two non-successive weekends, I completed two, 10-minute plays for submission into Short & Sweet - The World's Largest 10-Minute Play Festival, in Sydney, Australia.

"The Bed", an old man's introspective look at his life, was written in the span of about 24 hours while I was in Chicago a couple weeks ago. "Jessica, Paris, Britney and Lindsay Meet Brett Favre on Their Train Wreck", a tongue-and-cheek look at celebrity and a Magic 8 Ball, was written while I spent this past weekend in Tujunga with Donovan, Maria and Baby Grace.

I've had both ideas in my head for quite some time - but really just a one-sentence logline. Sometimes it happens that way. Environment has a lot to do with it. Last year, my award-winning short, "Pass the Salt, Please." was a semi-finalist in Sydney. This year I hope one of these plays captures the $5,000 grand prize award.

Wishful thinking for a playwright is a must.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." headed to Seattle!

My dirty little short play, "Pass the Salt, Please." will be headed to Seattle this Spring as part of the Little Red Studio weekend of Erotic Shorts.

If you'd like to read more about the play, go to the post on my playwriting blog. Or you can search this blog by category (right panel, scroll down) for all the posts concerning the play. It's been a somewhat successful little bastard - just have to figure out how to make more money with it.

If you've got an erotic festival playing in your hometown in the near future, are planning one yourself or if you know theater venues open to an evening of erotic shorts, gimme a prod - I mean a holler. My email is irc_64@hotmail.com OR weakknees@gbpackersfan.com.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." is Semi-finalist for Asphalt Jungle Shorts IV in Ontario, Canada

And...that's as far as she got - which is still far, mind you. Just got the email this evening. "PTSP." made it to the final stages but not the final cut. That's cool. It's getting people's attention and that's what matters. They're actually going to keep the play for possible use in another event or consideration in Asphalt Jungle Shorts V.

"Pass the Salt, Please.", is a 10-minute play, chosen BEST OF SHOW at UNcover: An Art Exhibition with An Erotic Vibe, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2007. It's LA premiere was at the grand re-opening of Drake's Erotica Emporium on Melrose in West Hollywood in August 2007.

The premise of the play is this: what would happen if the dinner conversation of a married couple in their mid to late 50’s resembled the script pages of a scene in a pornographic film? As a man and woman catch up on the day’s events, their banter morphs from “ho-hum” to “whoop-eee!” – without missing a “bite”. The scene reflects the state of sex in the America of the feminine mystique, as viewed by feminist Betty Friedan.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." - The Lost Photographs!

Finally! Some photographic evidence of my 10-minute, dirty play, "Pass the Salt, Please." , that was performed at UNcover: a two night art exhibition with an erotic vibe, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (my old theater stomping grounds) in March 2007. The person who was supposed to get pictures to the coordinator of the event dropped the ball, but I got these two from my friend Shannon in Cedar Rapids, who's married to my theater buddy, Officer Jim Keller (Follies) of the Linn County Sheriff's Department.

My actors, Gary Benzer (Follies and TCR) and Julia Kent during one of the performances. I flew in from LA to direct it 'cause I couldn't find anyone that could - or would (too risque - go figure). Gary jumped right in and Julia (who I knew from WMT) hadn't acted in 30 years. They were perfect. And the play won Best of Show honors and a nice little cash stipend that paid for the trip.

My very good friend Jim Keller, me and one of the painted models in attendance. Yes - she's nude. Nice personality, too.

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A sentence every playwright loves to hear.

"Dear Mr Ircink, the Festival wishes to accept your play for consideration."
- regarding my full-length play, "Chromosome 21".

The festival is the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, just east of Seattle. To qualify scripts so they're not flooded with subpar material, you send in a synopsis, character information and a statement about where the play has been, where you think it's headed as far as development, what you want out of the workshop, etc. - they sort through that and then pick which scripts they'd like to read and pick the final two or three to workshop. It's a crapshoot but that's what a writer does.

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"PTSP." Shortlisted for Short & Sweet/Sydney 2007

By the way, my award-winning 10-minute play - "Pass the Salt, Please.", was Shortlisted for Short & Sweet/Sydney, the World's Largest 10-Minute Play Festival. That's Sydney, Australia. And shortlisted means it didn't make the final cut. Final cut, as in it won't be performed there in January/February. But it did make the original cut from 1550 to 317, so that's good. It's like being a semi-finalist...only shortlisted.

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Origami No. 7 - "Del Rey's Lament"

Here's a blues song I wrote for my play, "Chromosome 21". Del Rey, a guitar player who sings for coins in the street, is the imaginary friend of Joshua Cinrick, who has Down Syndrome and is celebrating his 21st birthday. Joshua's father abandoned the family ten years ago and Del Rey is Joshua's way of coping with his father's leaving - Joshua "talks" to Del Rey and Del Rey serves as a sort of "mentor" toward Joshua, teaching him about playing the guitar and singing 'da Blues'. Sing a-long, if you'd like - just pick any blues melody and you're all set.

Can’t you hear the jingle jangle,
of my cup that’s filled with coins.
Can’t you hear the jingle jangle,
Like a lil’ kid with a brand, new toy.
There’s a lot a people passin' by,
Still my cup ain’t made no noise.

I’m just a tumbleweed, baby,
My venue is the lonely road.
I’m just a tumbleweed, a'tumblin',
Don’t own nothin' save my soul.
I’m a singer with no nightclub, baby,
Playin' the blues, that’s all I know.

I was born a poor, black child, (with no daddy)
outside a’Memphis - some no-good town.
I was born a poor, black child, uh-h, huh,
walkin' 'round with just a frown.
That’s where I cut these teeth on blues,
Lord, that curse done bring me down.

I’m just a tumbleweed, baby,
My venue is the lonely road.
I’m just a tumbleweed, a'tumblin',
Don’t own nothin' save my soul.
I’m a singer with no nightclub, baby,
Playin' the blues, that’s all I know.

Got no one to come home to,
Lie in bed awake all alone.
Got no one to come home to,
My body’s achin', can’t you hear it moan?
It’s the life that I was meant to live,
It’s a song, that’s just a poem.

I’m just a tumbleweed, baby,
My venue is the lonely road.
I’m just a tumbleweed, a'tumblin',
Don’t own nothin' save my soul.
I’m a singer with no nightclub, baby,
Play’in the blues, that’s all I know.

There’s a lot a people passin' by,
Still my cup ain’t made no noise.

I sing about what’s wrong with life,
Lord, it’s sho’ a heavy load.

Got a long road ahead a me,
Lord (Pause) - have mercy on my soul.

© 2005 Jeffrey James Ircink

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Interview with HAIR producer, Michael Butler

Here's my exclusive (well it's not really that exclusive - it's not like he only does certain interviews) interview with HAIR producer, Michael Butler. Butler, who served as Special Advisor to Senator John F. Kennedy on the Middle East, Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, Commissioner of the Port of Chicago, President of the Organization of Economic Development in Illinois and Personal Assistant to Governor Otto Kerner, will share some of his thoughts as HAIR turns 40 this month.

“Good morning, this is Jeff with my special guest, Michael Butler, the original producer of HAIR, the tribal rock musical that he was responsible for bringing to Broadway from an Off-Broadway venue in New York City – The Public Theatre. I had the pleasure of meeting Michael briefly when I was in the cast of HAIR at the University of Iowa (one of three non-students). It was a big thrill for me and he has graciously agreed to talk with me this morning from New York.”

Jeff: How are you Michael?

MB: I’m very well, thank you.

Jeff: Great. When you first saw HAIR at the The Public Theatre what was the impetus for saying, “I want to get involved with this.”?

MB: Politics and the anti-war statement it made.

Jeff: Do you remember when you took it to The Cheetah and then to Broadway if there was a point in time when you said, “Boy, we’ve really got something here. We’ve got something that people are going to remember.”?

MB: I don’t know – I think it was more that I believed so strongly in what I was doing that I really wasn’t concerned whether…that is not what a producer should be. A producer should not be combing the market saying, “This is good for the market”. A producer should produce something he believes in and if the rest of the people believe in it…why, then it succeeds.

Jeff: So often you hear people comment that HAIR is dated. There are musicals that I suppose one could say are as dated as HAIR – Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Mary Poppins, Camelot, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, West Side Story. Why do you think people say that and why don’t you think it’s dated?

MB: Well, number one I know very few people that say HAIR is dated. The latest HAIR that we’ve done on the West Coast had about nine reviews and everyone one of them has been positive. The interesting aspect of that is that HAIR is dated from the point of view that is a historical piece. But what makes it so lively is that everything that HAIR says in pertinent today, and also the music is timeless. So the music helps to carry it along but the message of HAIR is, unfortunately just changed from Vietnam to Iraq and you're right back in the same place.

Jeff: I agree. So many people don’t realize that if they’re not a fan of the musical, they’ve heard a lot of the songs on the radio – five songs were Top 4 songs on the Billboard charts by other artists so the music is truly timeless.

MB: It’s the most recorded score in the history of musical theater.

Jeff: Is it really?

MB: Yes it is.

Jeff: I wasn’t aware of that. Since 1968 you’ve been involved in producing HAIR all over the world. Most recently you had a 40th anniversary show in New York and you’re involved in the production that’s going on in Los Angeles. Are there any particular things about the show that have changed since 1968?

MB: Not really. Nothing that I’m involved with has changed because I don’t believe that HAIR should be changed. I think HAIR should be done as it was done on Broadway. Now the show that was done in Central Park late September was something done by the Public (Theatre) which was more of a concert than the show itself and that was more pertinent to the Public production, which was quite different than my production.

Jeff: How often do you talk to James Rado?

MB: Not very often.

Jeff: He’s still involved with productions, is he not?

MB: Yes, yes.

Jeff: I think that’s it, Michael.

MB: Very good.

Jeff: It was a pleasure – and while I’ve got you on the phone I want to thank you, James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt McDermott for doing what you did with this musical. If you talk to anyone – particularly anyone who’s been in the show – we always say, “Once a member of the Tribe always a member of the Tribe”. We thank you for giving us an opportunity to be a part of HAIR, and it will be with us always – as it is with you. Thank you very much.

MB: Thank you.

(Listen to a portion of this interview on GABCAST - on the right panel of this blog.)

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Origami No. 6

'I wrote all the time. Everywhere. When I wasn't writing, I was thinking about it or continuing to 'write' in my head. . . . I wasn't very good company. At that time, a major critic commented that I wrote 'disposable plays,' and in some sense he was probably right. But nothing mattered to me then except to get the stuff down on paper...' - Sam Shepard

The overwhelming majority of writers I talk to or have seen quoted describe writing as a lonely, solitary life and, as a playwright, I must echo those sentiments. Much of what we write ends up on a pile - unread and unappreciated; a pile that grows with every stroke of the pen or punch of the keyboard, accumulating dust with age. We write about what interests us and what is perhaps uninteresting to others. We write because the passion we realize from writing is unattainable anywhere else. We write because we will die if we do not. And when we are applauded by friends and colleagues for what we have written, the result is, at best, the affirmation that inevitably sends us back to our typewriter to continue on in that solitary, lonely life that a writer can never escape.

That's why it's advantageous to have other interests besides writing. Like porn.
- Jeffrey James Ircink

Origami is sort of my catchword for a featured blog entry that highlights my original writings - could be an excerpt from one of my plays, a poem, a song, a rant, a rave, a cursing, etc. Origami is the art of folding paper (the word is of Japanese origin). So, within the folds of this particular blog feature you may find something really beautiful, meaningful or poignant.

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Pissed.

Best word to describe it. And the "irritated" kind of pissed - not the "drunk" one.

I entered two shorts in this play competition (see June 25 post on Short & Sweet) and neither of them made the 2nd cut to 196 (60 are eventually chosen and performed). With the evaluation system they were using I was confident "Pass the Salt, Please." would've made it. Huh. God damn Aussies. Oh well....I HATE YOU ALL. AUSSIES. KIWIS. EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! GO AWAYYYYYYYYY!

Both plays are still being considered for Short & Sweet/Sydney in February 2008. Bastards.

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"Pass the Salt, Please." HUGE Success at Drake's

My 10-minute "dirty" play, "Pass the Salt, Please.", bowed to rave reviews at the grand re-opening this past Saturday of Drake's Erotica Emporium - a 35-year-old porn shop "institution" on Melrose in West Hollywood. My cast had to hold up their dialogue numerous times (8) to wait for laughter to die down and I received a number of inquiries for future productions. Stephen Allen Carver - my director - did a fabulous job, and my actors, Dave and Linda Parke, were perfection. For more information about this play, go to http://www.playsofjeffreyjamesircink.blogspot.com/

As I always say, live theater is meant to be seen in person, but I'll be receiving a DVD of the production courtesy of Dave Parke, Jr.

The cast and director in rehearsals. L. to R. Linda Parke, Dave Parke, Stephen Allen Carver.

Taking a break.

My cast and director.

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BREAKING NEWS! Los Angeles premiere of Award-Winning play, "PASS THE SALT, PLEASE."

My 10-minute play, "Pass the Salt, Please.", chosen BEST OF SHOW at UNcover: An Art Exhibition with An Erotic Vibe, Cedar Rapids, IA, will have its LA premiere at the grand re-opening of Drake's Erotica Emporium on Melrose in West Hollywood on Saturday, August 25th. Drake's is celebrating 35 years in business as one of the city's preeminent adult stores and this party will be one to "fit the bill". The event will feature performance artists, adult industry actors and my play, along with food and beverages and yet-to-be-announced schtuff.

The premise of the play is this: what would happen if the dinner conversation of a married couple in their mid to late 50’s resembled the script pages of a scene in a pornographic film? As a man and woman catch up on the day’s events, their banter morphs from “ho-hum” to “whoop-eee!” – without missing a “bite”. The scene reflects the state of sex in the America of the feminine mystique, as viewed by feminist Betty Friedan (see...my plays does have a point!).

OK. So Drake's is a porn shop - sorry, "emporium". But it's the quintessential venue for "Pass the Salt, Please.", quite frankly. And it's LA, where the adult industry is equivalent to that pink elephant in the room no one talks about (but generates more money than the mainstream movie industry). If I can expose a few hundred "sordid" types to a bit of culture at the expense of my play being performed at a porn shop, so be it.

(FYI: I was in attendance for the two-evening art exhibition in March of this year and the audience - around 400 people representing every walk of life - went berserk. Pretty amazing for such a conservative city as Cedar Rapids. Featured were paintings, photos, performance pieces and other art pieces representative of 13 states, Norway and Russia.)

The other reason I'm excited about the Drake's event is because my friend, Dave Parke and his wife, Linda, will be starring in the play. David and I were in Blood Brothers together, along with Stephen Michael Carver, who will be directing this piece. What a nice little reunion. Festivities kick off at noon with celebrity signings, music, food, drinks, raffles, and giveaways and the performances begin at 8 pm. I was told if you wanna see my play - be there at 8. Call Drake's Erotica Emporium on Melrose in West Hollywood for more information.

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